Dealers Flex Their Muscles In New Sales Deals

As the contemporary art market heats up, “several dealers of contemporary art are placing a right of first refusal in their sales documents, requiring buyers to offer the art back to the dealer before selling to anyone else. Some, including dealers, maintain that these restrictions protect artists, the market, and even collectors. However critics of these contracts disagree. While the use of such restrictions is not standard practice in the market, it is also not entirely new.”